McKenzie's magical fairy friends

This is the nursery of Ms. McKenzie. Mom and dad wanted a room fit for their very first little princess. I matched the pink exactly to her bedding and gave the letters an outline of chocolate brown. I enjoyed painting the tinker-bells iridescent pixie dust trails and stars to give them that magical look. Now every night

McKenzie can stare up at her magical guardians.

Baby Evelyn's beach nursery

So nurseries are cute but I love being able to do a beach themed nursery and without having that cartooney vibe that most modern nurseries have. This theme is versatile and can transition well with little Evelyn as she grows up; as long as she doesn't develop a fear of birds.

Irises

During college I worked for some folks who ran a small EBay business out of their home and they had a wonderful flower garden. In this historic Nashville garden they had a plethora of Irises. I not only wanted to show people that I was an accomplished flower painter but I wanted to create the flower to give it a sculptural effect. I really enjoyed coming up with the design for the petals while realistically portraying the colors of the flower with paint. Lipscomb University bought these from me so its been 4 years since I've made any more flowers like these; I think its time to make some more sculptural flowers!

Samson the Golden Retriever

This is Samson. He was also a dog that has gone to "doggie heaven" and his owner's wife commissioned me as a surprise for husband. I like the serene background but this was a challenging piece because the owner gave me various photos to work from which were not the best snap shots of Samson. Please if you are going to take a photo of your pooch please get at eye level with your pet and use natural light if possible.

P.S. I'm always available for commission and I'm reasonably priced.

Ruff...

This is Skipper he was not only the subject of my first dog painting but he was the beloved pet of my uncle and aunt. I had never thought about painting a dog until my uncle suggested it.

You can see in the first image that he started off questionable. My biggest flaw as an artist is fear of failure. When I think things are not going well I tend to find excuses to do anything else besides working on paintings. Through this blog I'm hoping that I can get over this funk and begin to tackle more projects. I was also surprised at the results and how much I enjoyed painting hair!

I'm just glad that I could capture the essence of Skipper for them and find my passion for painting dogs.

Why?

I just love a good surprise whether it be a surprise party, surprise gift to or from someone but the one thing that still surprises me the most is art. I'm surprised every time I set my paintbrush down to observe the progress or lack of progress that I'm making in a painting and surprisingly it turns out ok. When I watch my student create I'm often surprised by the amount of dedication they put into their work and even the student who is lacking artistic talent can create something "beautiful". Yep you just never know when or how I'll be surprised so I created this blog to share my surprises. I have learned that even though I'm often surprised with my abilities I can count on God saying that he gave me the gift and he's not surprised one bit. I think he is only surprised when I finally stop procrastinating and start creating something with my talents. Enjoy!